Bally’s Corporation has reportedly emerged as the leading bidder for Evoke plc, the UK gambling group behind William Hill and Gamesys. If a deal is completed, it would mark a major European expansion for the US-heavy operator.
According to Kavout, the approach fits Bally’s stated aim of growing its European market share, especially in Britain. The report said Evoke launched a strategic review in December 2025 to look at options for maximising shareholder value, including a full sale or the disposal of selected assets.
Kavout said Bally’s has been positioned as the most credible bidder because it is willing to buy the whole Evoke group. That matters because the board is said to prefer a simplified, single-buyer transaction rather than breaking the business up piece by piece.
Evoke’s balance sheet is central to the discussion. Kavout put its net debt at about £1.8 billion, or roughly 5 times EBITDA, and said realistic valuations for its assets were in the £1.4 billion to £1.6 billion range. The group was also described as having a fragmented technology portfolio, with William Hill alongside Jackpotjoy and Virgin Games among its brands.
The wider tax backdrop in Britain has made the sector less forgiving. Kavout said Remote Gaming Duty is rising to 40% for online casino from 1 April 2026, and that Deutsche Bank responded by cutting Evoke’s EBITDA forecasts by 12% for 2026 and 18% for 2027. It also said margins could fall to 13% in 2027 from 23% in 2023.
A House of Commons briefing set out the broader fiscal changes, saying the 2025 Budget announced three gambling tax measures that were later included in the Finance Act 2026. These are an increase in remote gaming duty, a new remote betting rate and the abolition of bingo duty. Parliament estimated the package would raise £810 million in 2026/27, rising to £1.16 billion in 2030/31.
The financing burden would not stop with Evoke. Kavout said Bally’s trailing net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 16.51 times and its debt-to-equity ratio was 6.47. It also said Bally’s sold property for about $400 million in February 2026, while still describing the company’s preliminary 2025 financial year as successful.
In iGamingBusiness, the earlier reporting on the same approach said Evoke confirmed in May that talks with Bally’s Intralot were continuing and extended the deadline for a firm offer to 8 June. The same report said Bally’s chairman Soo Kim sees Britain as important because it offers scale, liquidity, regulatory maturity and operational expertise, and he said the company wants to be “active” in M&A amid a wave of “very motivated sellers” in European gaming.
